French-Canadian photographer Benoit Paillé created a series of constructed images entitled DollarStore. These dollar store dinosaur toys and other objects have been transformed from the mundane to the extraordinary. Through manipulation, repetition, and documentation with the use of stunning photography techniques over brightly colored backgrounds; these simple dollar store sculptures take on new glamorous aesthetic qualities. With this unique interpretation of the object the artist questions the social implications of cheap labor in China and abroad. Paillé is a self-taught photographer whose images are both experimental and yet resonate a high level of sophistication. See more after the jump!
Putting an interactive twist on Minimalism, New York-based artist Aakash Nihalani creates optical illusions in his street art and installations. Last month, the artist had a solo show at Signal in Brooklyn, where he created monochromatic, site-specific works in the gallery space. With plastic and tape carefully placed at the correct angles, Nihalani’s new works transport the viewers into a fantasy of floating in zero gravity as the eyes follow the receding shapes and the body begins to yearn for the ability to teleport. Take a look at some of Nihalani’s stripped-down pieces from Signal and some vibrantly-colored street work after the jump.
Since we introduced her ethereal pen-and-ink drawings last year, So Youn Lee has created a new series of candy-colored paintings filled with psychedelia. The female protagonists appear wide-eyed and bewildered, wandering through a haze of confectionary shapes and colors. Some of the abstract formations form plant-like arrangements, but it is unclear whether these otherworldly forests are figments of the characters’ imaginations. Take a look at some of So Youn Lee’s new work after the jump!
Known for an expressive, freeform painting style rooted in sign painting and graffiti, Stephen Powers currently has a show on view at Alice Gallery in Brussels titled “Visual Blues.” A pictorial manifestation of the artists’ love for music, the works in the show are surrounded by loose scrawling and large-scale doodles spray painted on the walls, visualizing the cathartic, emotional expression associated with the blues genre. Take a look at some of the works in the show, images courtesy of Alice Gallery. “Visual Blues” is on view through June 22. See more after the jump!
Russia artist Masha Krasnova-Shabaeva created a series of drawings in 2012 that are playful and bold. She is currently based in Rotterdam, The Netherlands where she has been creating paintings, drawings, posters, t-shirts, and comic strips. The gouache on paper illustrations are imaginative and very bizarre. Krasnova-Shabaeva’s works are filled with challengingly obscure narratives. It’s hard to immediately contextualize what is occurring in the work and as a result there’s a lot of room for the viewers’ imagination to be captivated. See more after the jump!
